You drive around mindlessly for an hour in the middle of the day, every day, because it’s the only way your son will nap. You’ll make a ridiculous voice or do an embarrassing dance because it makes your daughter crack up. If the doctor says that the procedure isn’t covered by insurance, of course you’ll pay for it out of pocket. You don’t even have to think twice. You don’t even check if you can afford it. You can operate on no sleep for them. You can figure out math problems you haven’t thought about in years. You can put up with being pooped on or thrown up on or yelled at without losing your cool. 

The things you do for your kids, right? That’s what being a dad is. It’s the world of unavoidable reality, as David Brooks put it. But you handle it. You make it work. Because you love them. Because you believe—you know—what the job requires of you. 

Well here’s a thought: What if you applied that empowered, relentless, abundance mindset to everything else in your life? Your job asks you to do something…do it. You’ve got a six hour layover and a massively delayed flight…sure, that’ll work. You have some jerkoff yelling at you in front of the grocery store…handle it. You’ve got to drive all the way back home because you forgot some important papers? Your spouse is picking pointless fights? How are you ever going to pay off this mortgage? Yeah? You got it.

Just like you do with your kids. You don’t fight it. You don’t throw yourself a pity party. You don’t let them see you sweat. You just handle it. Because it’s unavoidable. Because it’s what you signed up for. Because you know you can do it.

P.S. This was originally sent on November 25, 2019. Sign up today for the Daily Dad’s email and get our popular 11 page eBook, “20 Things Great Dads Do Everyday.”